Technology in cinema: 8 major developments that have marked the history of Cannes

The Scope format, created in the 1950s, based on an invention by the French astronomer Henri Chrétien, is an anamorphic lens that allows filmmakers to capture and present panoramic images on the big screen. Unlike traditional formats, it opened up a new visual horizon of an unprecedented scope to directors. In France, the first film to officially demonstrate this process was Marcel Ichac’s Nouveaux Horizons (shot in CinemaScope). It was screened at Cannes in 1954, ahead of Henry Koster’s feature film The Robe. The wide screen offers a striking level of immersion. It brings the distant closer and plunges the spectator into grandiose landscapes and scenes of unprecedented depth. “The impression of depth disappears when the camera is static.” (Jean-Jacques Meusy, La Recherche n°359)

New Wave filmmakers like François Truffaut also embraced this innovation to serve as part of their aesthetic revolution. Truffaut’s first feature film Les Quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows) (Award for Best Director in 1959) was shot by Henri Decaë in black and white DyaliScope. The use of a wide screen made it possible to accentuate the narrowness of the apartment belonging to the parents of the protagonist, Antoine Doinel. “The Scope provides a greater impression of narrowness for real sets. Thus, in Les Quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows) the tiny sets where we shot kept their proportions, whereas the normal format would have deformed them.” (Henri Decaë – source: Les Directeurs de la photo et leur image by Christian Gilles)

The arrival of quieter, lighter and more ergonomic equipment, like the Caméflex Éclair-Coutant camera in 1963, made it possible to record image and sound directly and synchronously. Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin’s documentary film Chronique d’un été (Chronicle of a Summer) (1960) was one of the first experiments in shooting with sync sound. “Coutant agreed to make an extremely light, miniature and soundless camera. This camera was the Éclair camera that we have shot Chronique d’un été with. That is, we made a film at the same time as a camera was made.” (Jean Rouch – source). This innovation made it possible to capture a new ethnographic and sociological experience, closer to the aspirations and preoccupations of Parisian society in the 1960s. It played an essential role in the renaissance of the documentary genre and in the emergence of cinéma vérité.

The Louma, a light crane developed by Alain Masseron and Jean-Marie Lavalou in 1970, brought a new dimension to filmmaking. Its capacity to carry out a wide range of movements, from rotating around the optical axis to vertical and horizontal pan shots, opened a range of possibilities to filmmakers.

It entered the cinema landscape with Roman Polanski’s Le Locataire (The Tenant), who used it for the long shots at the beginning of the film, alongside chief cameraman Sven Nykvist and designer Pierre Guffroy. Wim Wenders (1977) also used a Louma in Der Amerikanische Freund (The American Friend), as did Steven Spielberg in 1941, who enthused, “This is my new toy!” (Steven Spielberg – source).

A real revolution, the invention of the Steadicam in 1975 radically changed how movement shots were done. Its inventor Garrett Brown operated it on its first films, using it to track movements and accompany characters. In Hal Ashby’s Bound for Glory (screened In Competition in 1977), the Steadicam is used to easily move through a crowd, whereas Stanley Kubrick used it intensively and extensively in The Shining (1979). The formal power of the Steadicam in this film helped to democratise it and make it famous.

“The Steadicam is a sort of new instrument that allows for a more subtle and refined music. You can make movements that correspond to your sensibility.” (Garrett Brown – source)

“I learned the route like a dancer learns difficult choreography and I was able to get better and better at making the movement unconscious and focusing on the rhythm of the shot.” (Garrett Brown – source: “Shining et la steadicam”, Positif, February 1981)

At the beginning of the new millennium, the director Alexander Sokurov pushed this technique to its maximum, shooting Russian Ark (screened In Competition in 2002) in a single 96-minute shot.

The introduction of Dolby Stereo at the end of the 1970s provided filmmakers with the possibility of plunging their audiences into rich and immersive soundscapes. This new use of sound was presented in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979), where the sound pioneer Walter Murch adopted a revolutionary approach as a “sound designer”. He created sonic compositions that immerse the audience in a ballet of real and imaginary sounds, reflecting the tormented moods of the main character, Captain Willard. This exploration of the potential of sound contributed to the film’s triumph, winning the Palme d’or at the 32nd edition of the Festival, tied with Volker Schlondorff’s Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum).

“I had to develop a specific approach for Apocalypse Now. Francis Ford Coppola wanted the film to be released in quadraphonic, which required me to carry out a precise analysis of the film’s soundtrack in three-dimensional space. So I said to myself, ‘if an interior designer can use the configuration of a space and decorate it in an interesting way, that’s what I have to do with a movie theatre. I have to use the three-dimensional space of the theatre and decorate it with sound.’ And that’s how the title of ‘sound designer’ appeared for me.” (Walter Murch – source: “Sound doctrine: an interview with Walter Murch”, Film Quarterly, University of Columbia Press, n°3, 2000)

The year 2022 was a major step for the Festival de Cannes with the formalisation of digital screenings in its three big theatres (source). Parmi les films présentés en Compétition, 24 Hour Party People de Michael Winterbottom est présenté en Compétition après avoir été tourné en numérique.As director of photography, Robby Müller chose a Sony DSR-PD150 digital camera for flexible and unpredictable shooting, mirroring the exuberant musical scene in Manchester between 1976 and 1992, which is the subject of the film.
Parallel to the Official Selection, Julien Duvivier’s Pépé le Moko was screened that year in a restored version that prefigured the emergence of Cannes Classics. Initially released in 1937, this classic about the story of Pépé, a famous French gangster played by Jean Gabin, found a second life thanks to digital.

This transition testifies to the commitment of the event to remain at the cutting edge of cinematographic technology, a strategic decision underlined by Pierre Lescure, president of the Festival at the time: “[The Festival de Cannes] is a technological laboratory, as it’s the first festival to have screened digital films.” (source)

Initially regarded as an innovative technology for animated films, 3D quickly expanded its scope in the 2000s, becoming a fertile source of innovation for other film genres.

The 62nd edition of the Festival de Cannes opened with a 3D screening of Pete Docter’s animated feature film Up and was quite the event. “We are happy that 3D is opening Cannes, as it’s one of the adventures that will be a gift to cinema in the near future.” (Thierry Frémaux – source). Two years later, Takashi Miike’s first 3D film Ichimei (Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai)(2011) was screened as part of the Official Selection.

“The subject matter, setting and film set for Ichimei were right for 3D filming. That said, shooting in 3D imposes lots of limitations. The film has no battle scenes because they take so long to film in 3D. But filming in 3D opens up other exciting possibilities.” (Takashi Miike – source)

It wouldn’t be until 2014 that a 3D film won an award. Jean-Luc Godard’s Adieu au Langage (Goodbye to Language) won the Jury Prize (tied with Xavier Dolan’s Mommy). This experimental film explores 3D not only for its spectacular visual effects but also to examine complex philosophical and narrative concepts, a testament to a new artistic appreciation of this technology.

In 2017, virtual reality appeared at Cannes for the first time. This immersion in a virtual world was thanks to the short film Carne y arena (Virtually Present, Physically Invisible) by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, screened Out of Competition. A blend of technology and narration, the film explores the challenges and the emotions of migrants who attempt to cross the border between Mexico and the United States. Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate of the Festival, has stressed the importance of this new form of artistic expression. “Virtual reality filmmaking, far from being a mere technology, is already an art.” (Thierry Frémaux – source)

Emerging technologies will continue to ceaselessly shape the future of the film industry and open new avenues for artistic exploration for directors and engagement for audiences.